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World Series of Poker

In 2016, John Cynn finished 11th in the WSOP Main event. Well, he finally took down the WSOP 2018 Main Event and took home a gold bracelet and $8.8 million dollars. The largest cash of his career. Amazing comeback from his previous attempt. It would be cool to see if he could pull down another win in the future.
The win brings his career earnings to nearly $10 million dollars. Most of it came from this event.
This is a much written about event. I will probably do another post just covering some of the highlights of the event itself.
To make a long story short, John Cynn and Tony Miles were heads up. It was a very long tournament with both players grinding at 5am. Miles tried to bluff with 8 and queen but lost to a hardcore three of a kind king hand from Cynn. Miles tried to blame fatigued on the loss but hey he took home $5 million.
In the interview both players look and sound pretty tired. They did play for over 12 hours. I guess it’s to be expected.
The final results were:

Justin Bonomo Wins One Drop For One Million at the 2018 WSOP
Boy wonder, Justin Bonomo, the star and cash leader at the WSOP, added another notch on his belt with the One Drop for Water event. He won and took home the $10,000,000 top prize along with a bracelet.
German boy wonder, Fedor Holz took second for $6 million.
Bonomo’s earnings are now around $43 million dollars with Holz’ at $33 million. Bonomo is now first in cash earnings. Negreanu needs a wake up call. Hello?
It’s Bonomo’s third gold bracelet. And if you can believe it, for 2018 Bonomo has won over $25 million dollars in tournaments. It’s really a historic event. Dan Colman is the other player who won over $22 in 2014.
He stated staying as focused as possible paid off.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings
1 Justin Bonomo $10,000,000
2 Fedor Holz $6,000,000
3 Dan Smith $4,000,000
4 Rick Salomon $2,840,000
5 Byron Kaverman $2,000,000

Brian Hastings Wins H.O.R.S.E $3000 Event at the 2018 WSOP
Brian Hasting Won the H.O.R.S.E. $3000 buy-in event at the 2018 WSOP. He gets his fourth gold bracelet and $232,202 in cash for first place. He triumphed over 354 fellow players.
Legendary online, he once took home over $4 million in a single cash game. He’s managed to extend his streak to live poker games as well. His four bracelets proves this point. He has career earnings of $3,323,752 as of 7/18.
The H.O.R.S.E. event had many bracelet winners as well. These tournaments bring a lot of players who are well rounded in the world of poker. Dutch Boyd, Jeff Madsen, Andrew Brown, John Hennigan, Ben Yu where some other notable players who either cashed or were in the event.
The final results were:

Ben Yu Wins $50,000 2018 WSOP High Roller Event
Be Yu has won the $50,000 WSOP $50,000 buy-in high roller event. He has cashed a whopping 14 times at the 2018 WSOP and got three final tables. The icing on the cake was this event. He picked up his third gold bracelet and whopping $1,650,000. He triumphed over 128 players who created a prize pool of $6,144,000.
Yu has now passed the $5 million dollar mark in earnings with over $2.5 million in this years WSOP. He won nearly $900,000 in the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha Event. It’s amazing that so much could happen in such a short time moneywise. He’s 32 and from Ohio.
With a high buy-in like this many of today’s top poker players were in the event like Jack Schindler, John Racener, Nick Petrangelo among others.
The final results for the event were:

Joe Cada Wins $1500 Closer Event at 2018 WSOP
Having a great summer, Joe Cada has won the $1500 Closer event at the WSOP. The win brings his bracelet total to four. This was a massive event with 3,120 players who created huge prize pool. Cada took home $612,886 for the win and a gold bracelet.
He also made final table at the WSOP and bagged over $2 million there. He is one of two double bracelet winners for the 2018 WSOP along with Shaun Deeb.
His total earnings are now nearly $14 million dollars.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings
1 Joe Cada $612,886
2 Paawan Bansal $378,765
3 Jeffrey Tanouye $278,774
4 Richard Ali $206,813
5 Eric Afriat $154,660
6 Richard Cox $116,595
7 James Poper $88,615
8 Brayden Gazlay $67,904
9 Joshua Turner $52,465

Las Vegas real estate agent Longsheng Tan has won the 2108 WSOP $1500 No Limit Holdem event. He triumphed over a field of 1351 players to take home the gold bracelet and $323,472.The event is the first since the start of the Main Event.
For Tan this has brought his earnings this year to $427,841.
Tan was chip leader going into the final day of the event. He managed to add to his chip lead with sending Adam Laskey to the rail.
Heads up play was between Jayaram Kovoorchathoth and Tan. It was brief , Tan won with a full house 7 and ace against Kovoorchathoth’s three of kind sevens. Runner up took home $199,862.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Longsheng Tan $323,472
2 Lanny Levine $199,862
3 Jayaram Kovoorchathoth $142,785
4 Trey Brabham $103,212
5 Adam Laskey $75,497
6 Stephen Bierman $55,892
7 John Pannucci $41,884
8 Georgios Tavoularis $31,775
9 Jason Paradis $24,409

Anderson Ireland Wins 2018 WSOP $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Bounty Event
New Orleans tour manager, 27 year old, Ireland Anderson has won the 2018 WSOP Pot Limit Omaha Bount event. He triumphed over a field of 833 to win the gold bracelet and $141,161.
He was knocked out of the Main Event and took a chance at this one. It paid off handsomely. He only started playing pot limit within the last year.
Heads up play was against former bracelet winner Matt O’donnell. It would a major battle since Ireland had a 5:1 chip lead. Ireland won with an all-in move and getting a straight.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Anderson Ireland $141,161
2 Matt O’Donnell $87,198
3 Joon Park $61,013
4 Michal Maryska $43,313
5 Hai Chu $31,203
6 Andrew Holland $22,816
7 Jonathan Thomas $16,937
8 Harry Pozefsky $12,767
9 Jameson Painter $9,776

Ronald Keijzer Wins 2018 WSOP $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six Max Event
The $3000 Pot Limit Omaha 6 Max event was won by Ronald Keijzer. It was a huge prize pool and Keijzer took home a bracelet and $475,033 for the grand prize. This was Keijzer’s best cash to date.
A lot of attention has been going on the main event, but look at the cashes below. Maybe players should look for other tourneys as well.
Place Player Earnings
1 Ronald Keijzer $475,033
2 Romain Lewis $293,553
3 Scott Bohlman $199,572
4 Mo Abedi Arani $137,954
5 James Chen $96,987
6 Ryan Lenaghan $69,369

Phil Hellmuth Wins 2018 World Series of Poker $5,000 Turbo No Limit Holdem Event
Extending his bracelet lead spectacular, Phil Helmuth has won his 15th gold bracelet at the WSOP with a win in the $5000 Turbo No Limit Holdem event. He was already the leader with 14 and he’s added another notch on his belt. Excellent for the 53 year old.
Hellmuth was in 8th place on the final day but by the final table, he moved to 2nd.
Wolansky went all-in but lost to Hellmuth three of kind 3s to secure the grand prizes of $485,082.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Phil Hellmuth $485,082
2 Steven Wolansky $299,807
3 Alan Sternberg $204,789
4 Aliaksei Boika $142,458
5 Kenneth Fishman $100,956
6 Matthew Glantz $72,911
7 Paul Hoefer $53,682
8 Ralph Wong $40,309
9 Eric Hicks $30,881

Yaser Al-Keliddar Wins 2018 WSOP $3,000 Six Max Limit Holdem Event
Yaser Al-Keliddar has won the $3000 Six Max limit holdem event. With a buy-in that large the payoff is great too. In this event, Al-Keliddar took home $596,700 and his first gold bracelet. There were 221 entries.
He is a recent convert to poker. His other gigs include law, real estate and stand up comedy.
The event was his largest cash to date, though he made a deep run in the Wynn Summer Classic Main event.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings
1 Yaser Al-Keliddar $154,338
2 Juha Helppi $95,380
3 Justin Thurlow $62,187
4 Andrew Yip $41,665
5 Mike Schneider $28,708
6 Barry Greenstein $20,358

Jeremy Perrin has won the 2018 $365 Giant No Limit Holdem Tournament. It’s called Giant for a reason. Nearly 9000 players were in the event with a prize pool of $2,676,000. This is the second running of the tournament. There were five flights and it whittled down to the final table and winner Perrin.
This was Perrin’s first gold bracelet, he also gets $250,000 in cash.
The heads up play was between Perrin and Luis Vazquez. Perrin had a 6:1 chip lead. Vazquez seemed to close the gap but lost with an all-in shove. He took home $154,412 for his efforts.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Jeremy Perrin $250,000
2 Luis Vazquez $154,512
3 Svetlozar Nestorov $117,531
4 Renato Kaneoya $89,686
5 Alexander Lakhov $68,605
6 Kevin Rines $52,721
7 Lawrence Chan $40,627
8 Matthew Smith $31,403
9 Daniel Fuhs $25,319

2018 WSOP $5,000 Six Max No Limit Holdem Tournament Won by Jean-Robert Bellande
Jean-Robert Bellande has won the $5000 Six Max No Limit Holdem Tourney at the WSOP 2018. He’d previously had two runner-up finishes in the WSOP this year but this is his first win. He takes home a gold bracelet and $616,302 in cash.
Bellande came to the final table with the chip lead. He was able to maintain it all the way to heads up against against Dean Lyall. Heads up started with Bellande holding a 2:1 chip lead. The final hand saw Bellande win with a queen pair. Lyall took the runner-up prize.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Jean-Robert Bellande $616,302
2 Dean Lyall $380,595
3 Andrew Graham $254,684
4 Tay Nguyen $173,598
5 Eric Blair $120,669
6 Kacper Pyzara $85,570

Phil Galfond Wins 2018 WSOP Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better Tournament
Winning is third gold bracelet, Phil Galfond has won the 2018 WSOP Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better Tournament. He takes home a whopping $567,788 for his efforts. He is an online legend but Omaha is one of his more recent poker games. There were 237 players in the tournament with a $10,000 buy-in.

The win boosts his career earnings to nearly $3 million. He has been involved with poker site Runitonce
in addition to playing.
Other poker pros in the event include Ryan Laplante, and Nick Schulman among others.
The top finishers were:
Place Player Earnings
1 Phil Galfond $567,788
2 Michael Mckenna $350,922
3 Ali Abduljabbar $240,497
4 Chad Power $168,275
5 Kwang Lee $120,263
6 Marco Johnson $87,830
7 David Baker $65,579
8 Chase Steely $50,086

Tim Andrew Wins 2018 WSOP $365 PLO Giant Tournament
The PLO $365 Giant tournament was won by Tim Andrew. This is a new tournament with a nice buy-in fee of $365. Canadian native, Tim Andrew took it down getting a gold bracelet and $116,015 in cash.
Though he arrived late, he was able to make up for it. Starting in third position for the final day, he won his way to heads up against Pedros Arroyo.
The heads up had Arroyo with a huge chip lead through aggressive play. That changed and Andrew made a comeback with some major hands. Finally, Andrew had an ace pair and went all- in sealing the tournament.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Tim Andrew $116,015
2 Pedro Arroyos $71,703
3 Robert Cicchelli $54,718
4 Sandeep Pulusani $42,172
5 Michael Mizrachi $31,304
6 James Sievers $23,796
7 Kevin Nomberto $18,444
8 Raymond “Trey” Walton $14,968
9 Srinivas Balasubramanian $11,093

Galen Hall Wins 2018 WSOP $888 Crazy Eights No Limit Holdem Tournament
Hedge fund managaer Galen Hall has won the $888 Crazy Eights No Limit Holdem Tournament at the WSOP. The low buy-in of $888 helped create a massive field of 8,598 players with a prize pool of $6,871,521. It’s Galen Hall’s first gold bracelet. He takes home $888,888 for the win.
Hall previously won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2011 for $2.3 million. He has more than $5 million in live poker earnings to date.
Hall came into the final day with a small chip stack but knocked fellow players out as he climbed to the top – Alex Kuzmin and Andrey Zaichenko were some of his knockouts. With the Zaichenko knockout, Hall took the lead with three remaining players.
Heads up saw Hall against Eduards Kudrjavcevs. Kudrjavcevs went all-in but was called by Hall who won with nine pair.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Galen Hall $888,888
2 Eduards Kudrjavcevs $476,888
3 Niels Herregodts $355,888
4 Andrey Zaichenko $266,888
5 Alex Kuzmin $201,888
6 Jeremiah Miesen $153,888
7 Martin Stausholm $117,888
8 Philip Tom $90,888
9 Alexandre Novaes $70,546

Chance Kornuth Wins 2018 WSOP Online High Roller Tournament
Earning his second WSOP gold bracelet, Chance Kormuth has won the Online High Roller Tournament at the 2018 WSOP. The $3200 entry event had 480 players with a prize pool of $1.5 million dollars. He took home the main prize of $341,599.
Previously, he won in 2010’s WSOP pot limit omaha event. His total poker earnings from live events are now over $6 million dollars. Other top poker players in the event were John Hennigan, Jason Koon, and Chris Moorman among others.

From over 6,200 players, down to one winner, Tommy Nguyen has won the 2018 WSOP $1500 Monsterstack. In doing so, he takes home a gold bracelet and $1,037,451. This is the largest cash for the 28 year old Canadian. He only recently went pro after winning the Partypoker live for over $150,000.
The final day of the event, Nguyen was in 22nd place chip-wise with 29 players left. He, nonetheless, came back from a chip deficit and placed sixth at the final table when he lost an all-in bet sending him to the last place again. He came back with a double up and then knocked out Shyam Srinivasan for some nice chips.
The heads up came against James Carroll. By the final hand Nguyen held a 6:1 chip advantage. The final hand had Carroll going all-in but losing against Nguyen’s ace-king combo.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Tommy Nguyen $1,037,451
2 James Carroll $640,916
3 Frank Rusnak $475,212
4 Chris Chong $354,903
5 Daniel Corbett $266,987
6 Michael Benko $202,327
7 Shyam Srinivasan $154,463
8 Harald Sammer $118,802
9 Rittie Chuaprasert $92,061

High Stakes Pro Scott Seiver Wins $10,000 No Limit Holdem at the 2018 WSOP
Scott Seiver has won the $10,000 No Limit Holdem event at the 2018 WSOP. There were 114 players who put up $10,000 for the event. The event tends to draw the big names in the poker world. Other notable poker players here included Nick Schulman, Maria Ho, and John Hennigan among others.
For Seiver the win gets him his second bracelet and $296,222 in cash.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings
1 Scott Seiver $296,222
2 Matthew Szymaszek $183,081
3 Anthony Zinno $129,186
4 Christopher Chung $93,009
5 Matt Glantz $68,352
6 Philip Cordano $51,296
7 Daniel Zack $39,329
8 Michael Moore $30,821
9 Ken Deng $24,700

Ryan Leng Wins 2018 WSOP $1,500 No Limit Holdem Bounty Event
Sustaining a chip lead going into the final day, Ryal Leng has won the 2018 WSOP $1500 No Limit Holdem Bount event. Bounty event give bonuses for knocking out players in this tournament it was $500.
For the win, Leng gets a bracelet and $272,765. As noted Leng’s lead only increased on the fourth and final day. He took out player after player ending in heads up against Ranno Soofia. Soofia went all-in with a nine pair but lost against Leng’s straight.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Ryan Leng $272,504
2 Ranno Sootla $168,329
3 Jay Farber $121,329
4 Christian Nolte $89,079
5 Javier Gomez $65,851
6 Russell Rosenblum $49,146
7 John Gulino $37,063
8 Mark Mazza $28,247
9 Mikhail Semin $21,759

Portugese poker pro, Diogo Veiga has won the 2018 WSOP $3000 Big Blind Ante No Limit Holdem event. He is the third player from Portugal to ever win a bracelet. For his win he gets a whopping $522,715.
The big blind ante format is just entering the WSOP for the first time this year. In a big blind ante event, players put up the ante for the entire table. In theory it speeds up the game. Its detractors say for low chip stack periods, putting up the ante for the entire table could wipe a player out. Most players agree, though, it speeds up the game.
On the final day, poker pro Barry Hutter seemed to have everything under control knocking out player after player. Hutter and Viega went heads up with Viega taking the lead by 3:1. Hutter moved all-in with ace ten, but the board proved victorious for Viega who won with a king pair.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Diogo Veiga $522,715
2 Barry Hutter $323,019
3 Radoslav Stoyanov $228,241
4 Jonathan Abdellatif $163,404
5 Tom McCormick $118,552
6 David Yan $87,179
7 Anna Antimony $64,991
8 Cathal Shine $49,126
9 Todd Ivens $37,660

The largest online WSOP bracelet event, the $1000 Online No Limit Holdem event, was won by Ryan Tosoc. The event had 1635 players. He won top prize of a gold bracelet and$238,778. Tosoc has previously won the WPT Five Diamond Classic for nearly $2 million dollars. For this summer’s WSOP, he has two additional cashes under his belt.
The online event itself took 16 hours to complete. It came down to Tosoc and Anthony Maio. They were about even stack wise, when Maio went all-in with ace, nine of clubs. Tosoc called with ace jack unsuited. Tosoc won with ace pair and jack kicker.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Ryan Tosoc $238,778
2 Anthony Maio $175,206
3 Joel Feldman $124,570
4 James Robinson $89,777
5 Justin Lapka $65,391
6 Markus Gonsalves $48,306
7 Russell Powers $36,190
8 Aurelian Guiglini $27,377
9 Aditya Sushant $20,968

Calvin Anderson Wins 2018 WSOP $10,000 Razz Championship

The $10,000 Razz Event at the 2018 WSOP was won by Calvin Anderson. The event had 119 players. Anderson gets a gold bracelet and $309,220 for his efforts. This brings the 30 year old poker pros earnings to over $2 million dollars in live tourney earnings. This is his second gold bracelet.
In poker pros quest for respect, a Razz tournament such as this one is a sought after event. This event was no different attracting pros like John Hennigan, Mike Leah, and three time bracelet winner Frank Kassela among others.
Kassela knocked out Julien Martini to third place, setting the stage for heads up with Anderson. Anderson was on a roll leading 3:1 going into the final day. He kept his momentum with Kassela down to just two blinds for a chip stack. He was knocked out taking home $191,111.
The final result were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Calvin Anderson $309,220
2 Frank Kassela $191,111
3 Julien Martini $134,587
4 Mike Leah $96,744
5 Jerry Wong $71,014
6 Alex Balandin $53,253
7 John Hennigan $40,817
8 Dzmitry Urbanovich $31,992

Poker pro Jessica Dawley has won the 2018 WSOP $1000 Ladies No Limit Holdem event. For the win, she gets $130,230 and her first gold bracelet. Her total poker earnings from live events are $733,413.
She knocked out Danielle Anderson with a king high straight and became chip leader. Though Jill Pike entered the day chip leader, she wasn’t able to maintain her dominance. She succumbed to Anderson with unsuited king and four against Dawley’s eight and five of hearts. The board gave Anderson a five pair for the win.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Jessica Dawley $130,230
2 Jill Pike $80,444
3 Lisa Fong $55,812
4 Mesha James $39,334
5 Jacqueline Burkhart $28,167
6 Tara Cain $20,499
7 Weiyi Mo $15,167
8 Molly Mossey $11,411
9 Tara Snow $8,732

Mario Pratas Garcia has won the $1000 No Limit Holdem Turbo Big Blind tournament at the 2018 World Series of Poker. He triumphed over a field of 1,712 players and in turbo fashion – two days – took home a gold bracelet and $285,255 for his efforts.
The big blind ante format is a new format that has the big blind posting the blinds for the entire table. Its supporters say it makes tournament play go faster. However, those against it say during a low stack period, posting the big blind can wipe out a players’ chip stack. Most people who play agree it makes the game go faster.
The second day started with 41 players. Prats Garcia was in 8th place. In just several hours, the table whittled down to the final table. At the final table Prats Garcia had a 7 to 1 chip lead so it wasn’t really a big contest. Matthew Hunt went all-in and lost with a straight against Prats Garcia’s flush. Hunt took home $159,532 for his efforts.
The top finishers were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Mario Prats Garcia $258,255
2 Matthew Hunt $159,532
3 Sebastian Dornbracht $114,909
4 Michael Wang $83,663
5 Mark Schluter $61,580
6 Gregory Worner $45,828
7 DJ MacKinnon $34,486
8 Martin Staszko $26,245
9 Lander Lijo $20,202

Matthew Mendez Wins 2018 WSOP $565 Online Pot-Limit Omaha Event
Online poker has made its way to the WSOP and Matthew Mendez has won the $565 Online Pot Limit Omaha event. He’s the first player to win an online event from outside Nevada.
He went heads up against Hungarian Marton Czuczor. In the end a straight was his game winning hand. Czuczor took home $82,865 for his efforts.
The top finishers were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Matthew Mendez $135,077
2 Marton Czuczor $82,865
3 Anthony Zinno $57,299
4 Alex Smith $40,256
5 Ankush Mandavia $28,745
6 Ao Chen $20,859

Shaun Deeb Wins 2018 WSOP $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight Max Event
The $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha Eight Max at the 2018 WSOP was won by Shaun Deeb. There were 230 players who put up a whopping $25,000 buy-in for the event. He won his third gold bracelet and a whopping $1,402,683 for the first place finish. The live poker earnings for Deeb soared after this finish to nearly $6 million dollars.
The final table was evenly stacked but that changed with Deeb knocked out Jason Koon to take the lead. Later, Deeb got a straight against James Calderaro and sent him packing. Deeb’s final great hand was in heads up against Ben Yu. Deeb won with aces and deuces.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Shaun Deeb $1,402,683
2 Ben Yu $866,924
3 Scotty Nguyen $592,875
4 James Calderaro $414,134
5 Jason Koon $295,606
6 Ryan Tosoc $215,718
7 David Benyamine $161,020
8 Bogdan Capitan $123,004

2018 WSOP $2,500 No-Limit Holdem Event Won by Timur Margolin
Timur Margolin, a 34 year old Israeli, has won the $2500 No Limit Holdem event at the 2018 WSOP. There were 1,248 players in the event. He takes home a gold bracelet and a whopping $507,274. The event had plenty of buzz with players like Chris Ferguson and Ryan Laplante all at the final table.
At the final table, Margolin took a major lead against Ferguson with a queen pair. Ferguson’s stack diminished after that. Margolin then knocked out Michael Marder to third place. This set up the heads up against Margolin and Ismael Bojang. Margolin’s stack was better by nearly a 3:1 margin when Margolin won with a top two pair. Bojang took second place with $313,444.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Timur Margolin $507,274
2 Ismael Bojang $313,444
3 Michael Marder $223,564
4 Chris Ferguson $161,371
5 Dylan Linde $117,894
6 Ryan Laplante $87,819
7 Jeff Hakim $65,284
8 Andre Haneberg $49,498
9 Joshua Bergman $38,009

David Brookshire Wins WSOP $2,500 Omaha/Stud Eight-Or-Better Event
The $2500 Omaha/Stud 8 or Better event at the WSOP was won by David Brookshire. There were 402 players in the event. This is a mixed game event that Brookshire, a Maryland native, has been doing well. He’s cashed recently in several tournaments playing this event including a WSOP Circuit ring, and even last week cashing for $13,861 in another Omaha/stud 8 or better event. This must greatly increase confidence going into a tournament like this.
For Brookshire, the great thing about winning is being able to use if for more tournaments.
The heads up was against Brendan Taylor. Even though at one point, Taylor had an 8:1 chip advantage, Brookshire was able to overcome the obstacle, take the lead and go on to win the event.
The final results were:
Place Player Payout
1 David Brookshire $214,291
2 Brendan Taylor $132,443
3 Daniel Ospina $89,968
4 Ian Shaw $62,331
5 Tyler Groth $44,059
6 Hani Awad $31,789
7 William Shelton $23,421
8 Eric Rodawig $17,628

Loren Klein Wins 2018 WSOP $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship
Loren Klein wins the World Series of Poker $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha event. He gets his third gold bracelet and a little over $1 million dollars for the grand prize. This is is fifth WSOP final table in Pot Limit Omaha.
The final day, Klein was third in chip position. But he knocked out Scott Bohlman for a huge chip stack addition. Klein then knocked out Ryan Hughes. The final hand was with Rep Porter who went all-in with a king pair only to be outdone with an ace pair.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Loren Klein $1,018,336
2 Rep Porter $629,378
3 Brandon Shack-Harris $433,259
4 Jerry Wong $303,491
5 Ryan Hughes $216,391
6 Scott Bohlman $157,097
7 Mike Leah $116,166
8 Alexey Makarov $87,522

Jay Kwon Wins WSOP 2018 $1,500 Razz Event
Jay Kwon has won the 2018 Razz $1500 event at the WSOP. There were 389 players with pool of $525,150. Kwon took the bracelet and $125,431 grand prize. He defeated Poland’s top poker money man Dzmitry Urbanovich.
There are only two razz events on the WSOP schedule and it’s not as popular as the favorite no limit holdem.
The top finishers were:
Place Player Payout
1 Jay Kwon $125,431
2 Dzmitry Urbanovich $77,526
3 Adam Owen $52,536
4 Michael McKenna $36,234
5 Kevin Iacofano $25,637
6 Thomas Taylor $18,477
7 Jeffrey Mitseff $13,605
8 Jeanne David $10,240

One of the oldest players to ever win a title took home th $1000 Super Senior event at the 2018 WSOP. From a field of 2,191 players, the action led to this 83 year old mother of poker pro Farzad Bonyadi. This is the first mother son duo to win WSOP titles. Farzad Bonyadi is a three time bracelet winner. She also won $311,451 for the event. To join the tournament, players need to be 60 years of age and up.
Believe it or not, she entered the final table in seventh position. She outlasted them all and won in heads up play against Robert Beach with a nine pair.
The final results were:

2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 Seven Card Stud Event Won by Yaniv Birman

In a final table with four WSOP bracelet winners a player must be focused. But that was what Yaniv Birman was when he won the Seven Card Stud event and his first gold bracelet. Not only did he triumph over several bracelet winners, but also two previous two time winners, Ben Yu and Jesse Martin. For his effort, he wins $236,238 and his first gold bracelet.
Yaniv Birman outlasted a tough final table to win the 2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 seven card stud event, earning $236,238 and his first gold bracelet in the process. The 35-year-old business owner from Los Angeles, California had to overcome four WSOP bracelet winners at the final table, including two two-time winners in Jesse Martin and Ben Yu.
There were 83 players who created a $780.200 prize pool. His winning hand was a pair of nines against a pair of threes from Jesse Martin.
The top results were:

Double Stack $1,000 No Limit Holdem Event Won by Robert Peacock at the 2018 WSOP
No pun intended but players flocked to the double stack $1,000 no limit holdem event which was won by Robert Peacock. A huge pool of $5,130,000 from 5,700 entries created a massive first place prize of $644,224. Peacock also gets his first bracelet.
He entered the final table in second position and managed to hold on till heads up against. Nicholas Salimbene. He held a 2:1 chip lead over him. He sent him to rail with a king kicker.
The final results for the event were:

Winning his first gold bracelet, Preston Lee has won the $1,500 No limit holdem shoot out event at the 2018 WSOP. There were 908 players with a first place prize of $236,498 in his first major title. The style of the event is the sit n’go style tournament with players who won advancing the next day and same structure the next day. It was a three day event.

$1,500 Limit Hold’em Bracelet At 2018 World Series of Poker Won by Robert Nehorayan

The limit holdem $1500 event was won by Robert Nehorayan. It’s his first gold bracelet and he gets $173,568. His previous cashes include the 2007 WSOP main event and a win in the 206 California State Poker Championship.
He stated getting great cards helped overcome any mixed feeling about frustration.
The top finishers were:

For nearly 20 years, Yuegi Zhu has been going to the WSOP. Finally, after 72 WSOP cashes, he has got his first gold bracelet and $211,781 in the $1500 Mixed Omaha Eight or Better event. There were 773 entries in the tournament. He thought he was the only person to have the most top three cashes without a bracelet. That is now history.
He entered the final table in fifth place and managed to maneuver himself to the first place position when Gabriel Ramos went all-in with two pair against Zhu’s straight. Ramos took home $130,850 for his effort.
The final results were:

Michael Mizrachi Wins His Third World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship Title

“The Grinder” Michael Mizrachi, accomplished one of the most amazing accomplishments in poker history. He triumphed over 87 of the world’s best players to win, for the third time, the World Series of Poker $50,000 Players Championship. This brings his gold bracelet count to 4 and he gets a whopping $1,239,126 for his great run. The win also brings his poker career earnings to $16.7 million.

He won the event in 2010 as well as 2012. This is the 13th running of the event and is combination of eight poker games.

Mizrachi took the sail out Dan Smith’s chip stack playing deuce to seven triple draw cooler. Smith had his remaining chips sucked up by John Hennigan.

In heads up play, Mizrachi and Hennigan battled it out till Mizrachi raised from the button and Hennigan three-bet his raise. The flop came and Hennigan bet again and Mizrachi raised to two million chips. Hennigan bet 5.3 million chips.The flop brought flush draw for Mizrachi against straight draw for Hennigan. Mizrachi walked away with the cash, title and prestige.
The final results were:

Going from an extremely low chip stack to first place at the final table, Hanh Tran has won the $1,500 Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw Lowball event at the 2018 WSOP. This is the Austrian’s first gold bracelet and he also takes home $117,282. Though he most plays cash games, this is the largest cash of his poker career.
Tran outlasted a field that included Brian Hasting, who was unable to pull it off and took the fifth place prize.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Hanh Tran $117,282
2 Oscar Johansson $72,471
3 David Prociak $46,749
4 Cody Wagner $30,926
5 Brian Hastings $21,021
6 Yong Wang $14,687

WSOP Marathon Event Won by Michael Addamo
The WSOP Marathon event, a five day tournament, concluded with Australian, Michael Addamo, taking a bracelet and first place. There were 1,637 players for the $2620 buy-in event. The 23 year old took home $653,581.
Addamo now living in Thailand due to Australia’s online poker ban, has nearly $2 million in live tournament winnings. His previous best cash was $197, 971 in the PokerStars Championship Macau.
The final results were:
Place Player Payout
1 Michael Addamo $653,581
2 Mark Sleet $403,870
3 Bart Lybaert $290,315
4 Taylor Paur $210,995
5 Martin Jacobson $155,062
6 Ying Chan $115,244
7 Anton Morgenstern $86,631
8 Cate Hall $65,875
9 Ihar Soika $50,678

$3,000 Six-Max No-Limit Holdem Event Won by Gal Yifrach at the WSOP 2018
Los Angeles business man, Gal Yifrach, won the $3000 Six-max No Limit Holdem event. He dominated over a field of 868 players. He secured a gold bracelet and $461,798. This is the largest cash of his career. Last year he won nearly $100,000 in the WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino event.
The tournament was cut short a day when the players agreed to end it with Yifrach in first place. By that time, his chip lead was astounding.
The final result were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Gal Yifrach $461,798
2 James Mackey $285,377
3 Gary Hasson $193,716
4 Aaron Mermelstein $133,731
5 Darren Rabinowitz $93,917
6 Ana Marquez $67,116

Ryan Bambrick Wins $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Event at the 2018 WSOP
The $1500 Pot Limit Omaha event at the 2018 WSOP was won by Ryan Bambrick. He triumphed over a field of 799 players to take home the gold bracelet and $217,123. Though he’s played online for 15 years part time, he decided to give it go and play full time. This is his fourth cash at this year’s WSOP and first final table finish.
He started out as chip leader on the final day and was able to pull it off continuing his climb to the top.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Ryan Bambrick $217,123
2 Sampo Ryynanen $134,138
3 Tim McDermott $93,639
4 Phil Riley $66,342
5 Jared Ingles $47,713
6 Jody Fayant $34,843
7 Daniel Woolard $25,841
8 Randy White $19,469
9 Pushpinder Singh $14,904

Matthew Davis Wins 2018 WSOP $1,000 No Limit Holdem Seniors Event
A record setting crowd of 5,918 set the tone to a great senior event with Matthew Davis winning the top prize. The pool was $5,326,200 and Davis, a professor, took home the $662,676 along with a gold bracelet. For the event, players have to be 50 and over. Get that 50, FIFTY, and over.
The final day saw Davis jump into the lead by knocking out Bill Bennett. He battled it out with Bill Stabler for a while but then regained his lead and took it all the way to the bank.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Matthew Davis $662,676
2 Bill Stabler $409,387
3 Scott Hamilton-Hill $303,807
4 Gary Friedlander $227,072
5 Bill Bennett $170,944
6 Rachel Delatorre $129,626
7 Frank Berry $99,015
8 Joe Schulman $76,191
9 Thad Smith $59,074

Poker pro has done two things. First, he won the $10,000 Deuce to Lowball event. Secondly, he has joined the likes of poker greats Amarillo Slim, Bobby Baldwin and others who have four WSOP bracelets. In this event, he won over a field of 95 players. Even in the event, poker legend Doyle Brunson, who made final table, himself played. The first place finish reaps a $259,670.
The final day of the event had Rast in 4th place with 11 remaining players. Rast eliminated John Hennigan and then Doyle Brunson. Rast has stated he only plays with the best. This is often a key to success and becoming the best. Play with the best.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Brian Rast $259,670
2 Michael Wattel $160,489
3 Dario Sammartino $114,023
4 James Alexander $81,986
5 Shawn Sheikhan $59,669
6 Doyle Brunson $43,963
7 John Hennigan $32,796

The Millionaire Maker event at the WSOP is a coveted event due to the low entry and huge reward. This event had 7,361 entries with a prize pool of $9,937,350. It was the third largest field in the history of the event. Arne Kern, a German poker player, took it down with a first place finish, bracelet, and $1,173,223.
The four day event had plenty of well known players like Joe Mckeehen, Manig Loeser, Ralph Massey among others. McKeehen took the lead for part of the day but at the final table Kern and Sam Razavi won key hands that propelled both of them to the top. McKeehen, having lost a fair amount of chips, was just left with some big blinds and elimated in 3rd place. But this being his seventh final table for the year moves McKeehen into 5th place for the year. He also took home $538,276.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Arne Kern $1,173,223
2 Sam Razavi $724,756
3 Joseph McKeehen $538,276
4 Michael Souza $402,614
5 Justin Liberto $303,294
6 Manuel Ruivo $230,120
7 Barny Boatman $175,865
8 Ralph Massey $135,383
9 Sean Marshall $104,987

British poker pro Benjamin Dobson has won the $1500 Seven Card Stud Eight or Better event at the WSOP 2018. There were a total of 596 players. For his efforts, he takes home $173,528 and his first gold bracelet.
He scored big at several key parts of the event with great pots.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Benjamin Dobson $173,528
2 Timothy Finne $107,243
3 Jesse Martin $74,324
4 Richard Monroe $52,359
5 Tom McCormick $37,504
6 James Nelson $27,321
7 Georgios Sotiropo $20,248
8 Peter Brownstein $15,271

Filippos Stavrakis Wins $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Event at the 2018 WSOP
From a field of 986 players, Filippos Stavrakis has won the $1000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at 2018 WSOP. For the win he gets his first gold bracelet and $169,842.
The event was played over several days with Stavrakis coming into the final day with the chip lead. He extended this lead till he and Jordan Siegel had taken control of the table. In the end, Stavrakis won.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Filippos Stavrakis $169,842
2 Jordan Siegel $104,924
3 Felipe Ramos $73,989
4 Clint Monfort $52,879
5 Peter Klein $38,309
6 Pascal Damois $28,137
7 Thayer Rasmussen $20,957
8 Georgios Karavokyris $15,832
9 Robert Cowen $12,133

2018 World Series of Poker $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event Won by John Hennigan
Joining the elite poker pro ranks, John Hennigan has won the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the WSOP 2018 and collects his fifth gold bracelet. Only a few players have reached five bracelets:Stu Ungar, Scotty Nguyen, and Jason Mercier among others.
The event had 166 players. For his win, he also gets $414,692. It was his 2nd final table for year.
The multi-day event had Hennigan in third place till a crucial hand of trip queens and king beat out Daniel Zack’s trip queen with a nine kicker. His scores continues with a seven card studn hand. Ultimately, Hennigan triumphed.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 John Hennigan $414,692
2 David Baker $256,297
3 Lee Salem $179,216
4 Iraj Parvizi $127,724
5 Randy Ohel $92,808
6 Albert Daher $68,783
7 Daniel Zack $52,016
8 Michael Noori $40,155

36 year old poker pro Adam Friedman won the $10,000 Dealers’s Choice Six-Max event at the WSOP 2018. He triumphed over a field of 111 and in the process won his second gold bracelet and $293,275. His live tourney earning are almost $2.5 million.
The Dealer’s Choice event allows players to choice from a variety of poker games with variants of flops, draws and stud. Players are able to select from 20 different poker games. The prestige in winning the event comes from being considered a top all around poker player.
The final hand was stud eight or better with Friedman winning with a queens up. He played against Stuart Rutter who finished in second place taking home $181,258.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Adam Friedman $293,275
2 Stuart Rutter $181,258
3 Alexey Makarov $127,487
4 Chris Klodnicki $90,713
5 David Baker $65,308
6 Marco Johnson $47,579

Ognyan Dimov Wins the 2018 World Series of Poker $1,500 Six-Max No Limit Holdem Event
Ognyan Dimov has won the $1500 Six-Max NLH event at the 2018 WSOP. He is the third Bulgarian to ever win a title. This is his first gold bracelet and he takes this along with the $378,743 first place prize. He is 2/3 of the way to winning poker’s triple crown.
Dimov quickly knocked out players on his way to winning the title at the final table.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Ognyan Dimov $378,743
2 Antonio Barbato $233,992
3 Nick Schulman $163,785
4 Ryan D’Angelo $116,118
5 Joey Weissman $83,396
6 Yue Du $60,686

Craig Varnell Wins 2018 World Series of Poker $565 Pot-limit Omaha Event
Triumphant over a field of 2419 players, Craig Varnell has won the $565 Pot limit Omaha event at the WSOP. For his efforts he takes home $181m790 and a gold bracelet. It’s his third final table finish.
He took chip lead after knocking out Jonathan Duhamel in the final table. With over 75 percent of the chips in play he took on Maxime Heroux. His lead only increased after that ultimately winning over Seth Zimmerman. His winning hand was a straight up.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Craig Varnell $181,790
2 Seth Zimmerman $112,347
3 Omar Mehmood $81,852
4 Maxime Heroux $60,190
5 Christopher Trang $44,677
6 Jonathan Duhamel $33,477
7 Shaome Yang $25,325
8 Jason Lipiner $19,344
9 Ilian Li $14,920

Jeremy Wien Wins $5000 No Limit Holdem Big Blind Ante Event
Winning over a field of 518 players, Jeremy Wien has won the WSOP $5000 NHL Big Blind Ante event. Wien, a derivatives trader from Mt. Kisco, NY gets his first gold bracelet and $537,710. It’s his first final table though he’s had several cashes. He did say he had a bracelet ceremony planned in his head. This gives some insight into a type of strategy called visualization. See yourself in a ceremony speech is like meditation towards the goal.
Laka lead for most of the day with Wien in second place but heads up against Wien, Laka yielded to second place.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Jeremy Wien $537,710
2 David Laka $332,328
3 Eric Blair $228,307
4 Jake Schindler $159,575
5 John Amato $113,510
6 Shawn Buchanan $82,199
7 David Peters $60,618
8 Richard Tuhrim $45,538
9 Patrick Truong $34,862

Philip Long Wins the 2018 World Series of Poker $1,500 Eight-game Mixed Event
Winning his first gold bracelet and $147,348, Phillip Long has won the Eight-game Mixed event at the 2018 WSOP. There were many notables in the event including Daniel Negreanu and John Racener among others. There were 481 entrants.
Mixed event poker games are a benchmark in deciding if a player is a great all around player. Many poker pros play these events for the prestige in winning such an event.
The final results were:

Brazilian restaurant owner, Roberly Felicio has won the Colossus. The tournament had a 565 buy-in and for his work, he took home $1 million dollars. He defeated Sang Liu. He previous won in last year’s Monster Stack. This tournament was also notable since Phil Ivey made his return and cashed in the tournament too.
The Colossus entries at 13,000 is the lowest turn out for the event since it started three years ago.
The results are:
Place Player Payout
1 Roberly Felicio $1,000,000
2 Sang Liu $500,000
3 Joel Wurtzel $300,000
4 Scott Margereson $220,040
5 Tim Miles $166,091
6 Song Choe $126,158
7 Gunther Dumsky $96,431
8 John Racener $74,178
9 Steven Jones $57,425

Andrey Zhigalov Wins H.O.R.S.E. $1500 Event at WSOP
Russian accountant Andry Zhigalov has won the H.O.R.S.E. event at the 2018 WSOP. In doing so, he wins his first gold bracelet and over $200,000 for the first place finish. He defeated a field of over 700 players.
He prefers mixed games and has had several cashes in mixed events but this is his largest to date.
Amazingly, he came back from being short stacked to taking a huge lead.
The final results were:

Justin Bonomo Wins 2018 WSOP $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship
Justin Bonomo Wins $10,000 Heads Up NHL Event at 2018 WSOP. Taking home his second bracelet and over $185,000 is just another notch on his belt for the year. He came to the final match with a 7:1 chip lead and pummelled runner up Jason McConnon. McConnon took home $115,000 for his efforts.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
Champion Justin Bonomo $185,965
Finalist Jason McConnon $114,933
Semi-Finalist Juan Dominguez $73,179
Semi-Finalist Martijn Gerrits $73,179
Quarter-Finalist Jan Eric Schwippert $31,086
Quarter-Finalist Mark McGovern $31,086
Quarter-Finalist Nicolai Morris $31,086
Quarter-Finalist Kahle Burns $31,086

Justin Bonomo is on a roll this year. He’s moved into third place on the money list. This year he added nearly $15 million dollars to his bottom line. He recently cashed for $5 million in the Super High Roller Bowl and $4.8 million in the Super High Roller Bowl China. His live event total is over $32 million dollars and sure to increase at his age of 32.

Benjamin Moon Wins 2018 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Big Blind Ante Event
San Diego poker pro Benjamin Moon won the $1500 NHL Big Blind Ante. The big blind ante format is the new approach to poker tournaments. In the betting, the big blind puts up the ante for all players. In theory it saves time as someone with a low chip stack would put in some rounds all of their chips when it’s their turn at big blind. No waiting for that ace pair with this format. That is the criticism of the format. Those with weak cards would have to use their chips in any case and not hold on to to a small stack in hopes of something better.
Nonetheless, Moon won over field of 1300 players. He takes home $315,000. He also gets his first bracelet. Though new at the WSOP, the big blind ante format is de riguer in Los Angeles and San Diego where Moon plays regularly. He says it does in fact play faster.
The final results were:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Benjamin Moon $315,346
2 Romain Lewis $194,837
3 Colin Robinson $138,938
4 Steven Snyder $100,268
5 Nhathanh Nguyen $73,242
6 Bohdan Slyvinskyi $54,160
7 Eric Polirer $40,549
8 Raymond Ho $30,742
9 Dutch Boyd $23,605

William Reymond wins 365 Online Event
French journalist William Reymond has won the 365 Online event at the 2018 WSOP. He defeated a field of nearly 3000 to claim the first gold bracelet of the WSOP and nearly $155,000. The tournament lasted a grueling 12 hours. The entry fee was a miniscule $365.

$100,000 High Roller Event

In the WSOP’s first ever $100,000 High Roller event, Nick Petrangelo has walked away with his second bracelet and first place prize of nearly $3 million dollars. There were over 100 entries. The 31 year old Massachusetts native now has nearly $15 million in lifetime earnings.
The event itself featured a who’s who of the poker world including Fedor Holz, Adrian Mateos, and Jaon Koon among other players. Petrangelo won with a two pair of aces and eights. The results are below:
Place Player Earnings (USD)
1 Nick Petrangelo $2,910,227
2 Elio Fox $1,798,658
3 Aymon Hata $1,247,230
4 Andreas Eiler $886,793
5 Bryn Kenney $646,927
6 Stephen Chidwick $484,551
7 Jason Koon $372,894
8 Adrian Mateos $295,066
9 Fedor Holz $240,265

$1500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better Won by Julien Martini

He made “julien” of all his fellow poker players and emerged to win the $1500 Omaha 8 or better event. Though, originally scheduled for 3 days it hadn’t finished and a 4th day added. The field of 911 players “prophetic” were eliminated bust by bust. The heads up came down to Kate Hoang and Julien Martini. Martini won not only nearly $240,000 but also his first bracelet. Runner up Kate Hoang took home $148,000.

The WSOP, World Series of Poker, starts today May 30, 202018. There will be 78 poker events including 9 new events add to the roster. Over $200 million will be on tables this year. Only the creme de la crop of over 100,000 players will be fortunate to take home any of the cash, though. Poker pros and wannabees are bracing with edge of their seat action for the next crop of big winners. History is made every year with these new winners and seasoned champs. I’m wondering if Phil Ivey will appear here. He’s been laying low from the highly promoted tournaments lately.
Popular events like the Colossuss, the Millionaire Maker tournament, Monster Stack and Crazy Eights will come back. As noted above, there are nine new tournaments this year. Some of the tournaments will start after the Main Event including the Big One for One Drop, the $10,000 six max, the $50,000 high roller tourney and the $1,500 NLH with 15,000 starting chips and 30 minute levels. This year’s tournament concludes July14.
Most tournaments start at either 11 am or 15:00. Weekend tournaments are 10 am or 17:00.
Bracelet events will use the Big Blind Ante format. This format of playing has the big blind putting up the ante for the entire table. It’s hope this format speeds up the game. But there are detractors who feel a small stacked player who might be forced to go all-in at their turn with a poor hand. They would rather not put up the entire table’s ante and their stack into and lose. This is the first year of this and it will be interesting to see if it makes it to next year’s WSOP. Eight of the bracelet tournaments will use this method.
Two Daily Deepstack tourneys and several of the Mega Satellites as well as the weekend high roller events will use this new format.
The entire 202018 WSOP events are below:

Instead of the WSOP stopping and resuming in November, this year it was different. The series concluded in July with Scott Blumstein crowned winner. It was the third largest event in its history with 7221 entrants. Like other events, this was spread over several days or “flights”. The final nine who came out millionaires from the tournament battled it out for supremacy.
The field was half amateurs with little or no earnings playing poker and the other half poker pros with millions in previous earnings. This shows flexibility of poker that anyone can win from anywhere. It’s not restricted by experience or other factors.
Scott Blumstein pulled it off this time around. In the process, he gets his first bracelet and $8.15 million dollars. He was the youngest player at the table at 25. His previous largest cash was almost $200000 in the Borgota Summer Poker Open July 2016.
The final hand of the game came in a pair of deuces with the deuce appearing on the river. When everyone thought Ott would win with an ace, seven combo the deuce sent everyone in disbelief. Blumstein took the title with a deuce!
The top winners for the tournament were:
1 Scott Blumstein $8,150,000
2 Daniel Ott $4,700,000
3 Benjamin Pollak $3,500,000
4 John Hesp $2,600,000
5 Antoine Saout $2,000,000
6 Bryan Piccioli $1,675,000
7 Damian Salas $1,425,000
8 Jack Sinclair $1,200,000
9 Ben Lamb $1,000,000

Poker Hall of Fame Inducts Phil Ivey and David Ulliott

The Poker Hall of Fame inducted Phil Ivey and David Ulliott. The other potential members included David Chui, Matt Savage, Mori Eskandani, Max Pescatori, Ted Forrest, Mike Matusow and Thor Hansen.
Ivey, with 10 bracelets and over 23 million in live poker earnings was eligible after turning 40. In a written statement he felt honored to be included and recognized he was lucky to be able to make a living playing poker. He also said he’s just as passionate about the game now as when he started.
David Ulliott is a lesser known British poker pro who died in 2015 from cancer.
In order to be considered players must be 40 or older, played in major competitions for high stakes, earn the respect of their peers. You don’t have to be a poker player to be inducted though for those who aren’t players, they must contribute to the growth of the game with positive results.

Pablo Mariz Wins $1500 Millionaire Maker Event
Canadian poker pro Pablo Mariz has won the $1500 Millionaire Maker Tourney at the 2017 WSOP. It is a true millionaire maker event, his take home is $1,221,407 for his first place finish. He has cashed four times in the 2017 WSOP, this being his largest cash and his first bracelet.
The top finishers were:
1 Pablo Mariz $1,221,407
2 Dejuante Alexander $754,499
3 Alex Farahi $561,530
4 Marc MacDonnell $420,805
5 Bryce Yockey $317,544
6 Yuriy Boyko $241,303
7 Jonathan Gray $184,663
8 Thiago Grigoletti $142,323
9 Hector Martin $110,476

John Monette Wins $10,000 2-7 Lowball Draw Event at the 2017 WSOP
Considered a specialty for professional players and a sign of a well rounded player low ball poker tends to attract a small crowd. Many pros go in hoping for a win to add to their professional legacy. John Monette hit the jackpot with a $256,610 win and bracelet.
Monette has cashed previously during this series. His career earnings are near $3 million dollars. This being his third bracelet, puts him in exclusive territory in the poker world.
The top finishers were:
1 John Monnette $256,610
2 Per Hildebrand $158,596
3 Darren Elias $110,944
4 Xavier Kyablue $79,016
5 James Chen $57,316
6 Mike Gorodinsky $42,357
7 Mike Leah $31,903
8 Paul Volpe $24,498

Joseph Di Rosa Rojas Wins The Marathon No Limit Event
The Marathon turned out to be a very popular event at this years WSOP. There were 1759 entrants creating a prize pool of over $4 million dollars. One variation in this event is each level is 100 minutes, it’s played out over 5 days. And players start out with deep stacks. For the Venezuelan native, Rojas gets his first bracelet and a whopping $690,469.
He is a part time poker player.
The top finishers in the event were:
1 Joseph Rojas $690,469
2 Alex Lynskey $426,663
3 Jeffrey Tomlinson $307,728
4 Timothy Reilly $224,316
5 Julian Stuer $165,277
6 Faraz Jaka $123,105
7 Andrew Jernigan $92,705
8 Pratik Ghatge $70,590
9 Maurice Hawkins $54,356

Chris Moorman Wins $3000 Six Max No Limit Hold’em Event
Believe it or not Chris Moorman hasn’t won a bracelet yet. Well, that’s changed with this event. Moorman took down the $3000 Six Max No Limit Hold’em event for $498,682. His total live earnings are now over $5 million, while his online poker earnings are over $14 million dollars. Nearly $20 million bucks playing poker , those are nice numbers!
His first bracelet in his poker career shows how far you can go without having won a first place finish.
The top finishers were:
1 Chris Moorman $498,682
2 Bernardo Dias $308,166
3 Michael Gagliano $210,139
4 Steve Sung $145,634
5 John Gorsuch $102,605
6 Max Silver $73,510

Guarav Raina Wins $2500 No Limit Holdem Event
Getting his first gold bracelet, Guarav Raina has won the $2500 No Limit Hold’em Event. His previous cashes totaled less than $10,000, so this is a major pay day with the $456,822 first place finish.
Originally a 3 day event, playing was extended into a fourth day. Raina was heads up against James Calvo. Raina went from 4 million chips to chip leader with a king and two pair. The final hand saw Raina win with a three of a kind jack against Calvo’s queen pair.
The top finishers were:
1 Gaurav Raina $456,822
2 James Calvo $282,276
3 Asi Moshe $199,718
4 Edward Sabat $143,148
5 Eric Cloutier $103,957
6 Griffin Abel $76,506
7 Henric Stenholm $57,068
8 Giuseppe Pantaleo $43,154
9 Scott Margereson $33,087

Frank Maggio Wins $1000 Senior Tournament
The $1000 entry No Limit Hold’em Senior Event was won by Frank Maggio. It was a robust turnout with 5,389 entrants. Maggio who’s been at the WSOP for six years gets his first bracelet and the prize of $617,303.
His previous cashes had totalled only around $40,000 making this his largest cash.
The top finishers were:
1 Frank Maggio $617,303
2 William Murray $381,233
3 Dieter Dechant $281,691
4 Mark Lillge $209,715
5 Anthony Licastro $157,321
6 Gina Bacon $118,923
7 Lewis LeClair $90,594
8 Paul Spitzberg $69,552
9 Dan Heimiller $53,817

On July 2nd, 2017, Americas Cardroom will host it’s satellite to the WSOP 2017. There will be 50 winners of a WSOP package that includes the $10,000 entry fee, $2500 for travel expenses, 24 hour cash out for Bitcoin users and a $540 satellite buy-in.
Buy-ins start at 28 cents. So, if you’re looking for a new cardroom or new to online poker, this is a great place to start. Everyday there are multiple satellite tournaments for these events at various buy-ins. Take a look and sign up today.

“Vegas Baby”

Step

Name

Buy-in

1st Place

2nd Place

3rd Place

4th Place

Step 0

WSOP Step 0/7

$0.25+0.03

Step 1 Entry

$0.30

$0.30

Step 1

WSOP Step 1/7

$1.50+0.15

Step 2 Entry

Step 2 Entry

$0.30

Step 2

WSOP Step 2/7

$6+0.60

Step 3 Entry

Step 3 Entry

Step 3 Entry

$4.50

Step 3

WSOP Step 3/7

$15+1.50

Step 4 Entry

Step 4 Entry

$25

Step 4

WSOP Step 4/7

$50+5

Step 5 Entry

Step 5 Entry

Step 5 Entry

Step 5

WSOP Step 5/7

$140+10

Step 6 Entry

Step 6 Entry

$180

Step 6

WSOP Step 6/7

$500+40

Step 7 Entry

$775

$465

$310

Step 7

WSOP Step 7/7

$2,800+150

1 WSOP Package

1 WSOP Package

$200

Max Steinberg was a player in the 2015 WSOP who took it to the final table that started from an online satellite entry. So Magic does happen!!

Starting the final table of the WSOP 2016 Main Event has paid off well for Qui Nguyen. He won the event and the $8 million dollar first place prize. Though it wasn’t always smooth sailing, he pulled out a win which has become expected for those who play aggressively.
He came into the final table winning small to medium and several large pots against Gordon Vayo who was second in chip count and Gordon Josephy who was third. Josephy came out early moving up but his rise was crimped by Vayo who was dealt some strong hands as Josephy doubled up. He was left short stacked. He rallied for a bit till being eliminated by Vayo. Josephy took home $3.5 million for his work. This set the stage for Nguyen and Vayo.
The heads up match was long at 8 hours with many twists and turns. Vayo had gotten the chip lead briefly but that was changed after half an hour. The two battled back and forth till Nguyen took control. He went all-in on the river and Vayo folded with 80,000,000 chips on the table. Later Nguyen took another chunk of chips leaving Vayo weakened.
Nguyen continued to build on his lead eventually winning with a pair of kings against Vayo’s jack – ten spades combination.
Highlights of the tournament are in the video below.

Nguyen’s win highlights the effects of aggression in poker. If you sit at a table, you see it all the time. Players who raise often, even with questionable hands, often come out ahead.
The results were:
Qui Nguyen $8,005,310
Gordon Vayo $4,661,228
Cliff Josephy $3,453,035
Michael Ruane $2,576,003
Vojtech Ruzicka $1,935,288
Kenny Hallaert $1,464,258
Griffin Benger $1,250,190
Jerry Wong $1,100,076
Fernando Pons $1,000,000
For most of the players, this is a high point of the poker career. Nguyen had his largest cash at this event. His previous top finish was $9000 and he earned his first bracelet. It’s rare to have repeat winners who place tops in the Main Event over and over.

On day two of the WSOP Final Table, Qui Nguyen has extended his lead to nearly 200,000,000 chips. He stayed aggressive winning medium pots and he got one large pot against Ruane, who he eliminated with an ace – jack combination. Nguyen didn’t start off so well though. He doubled up and lost to Ruane with pocket sixes against Ruane’s pocket eights. Nonetheless, he still retained control of the board.
At one point in the tournament, Vayo held the chip lead. He eliminated Ruzicka with a pair of eights against a ace – king combination from Ruzicka who also bluffed.
The remaining three will battle it out for the last of the series. The chip counts of the remaining players are:
Nguyen 197,600,000
Vayo 89,000,000
Josephy 50,000,000

Qui Nguyen has taken over the lead in day one of the final table and has a major chip lead. The action leading to the four bust outs are:
Fernando Pons went all-in with ace-six but lost when Cliff Josephy won with three of kind of kings. Jerry Wong was next with a pocket jacks being overruled by Vojtech Ruzicka’s pocket queens. Griffin Benger was next out when a pocket tens from Gordon Vayo won over Benger’s ace- nine combo.
The biggest hand of the night however went to Nguyen who took Kenny Hallert out with a pair of aces against Hallaert’s ace queen of clubs. Though that was the biggest hand of the night, Nguyen had been leading for most of the night. That hand was more or less the cap of a successful night at the table.
The remaining players are guaranteed at least $1.9 million.
There are five players remaining.
Chip counts for the remaining players are:
Nguyen 128,625,000
Josephy 63,850,000
Vojtech Ruzicka 62,250,000
Vayo 58,200,000
Ruane 23,700,000
All the players who busted out are guaranteed at least a million dollars . First place finish will take home $8 million dollars.

Cliff Josephy is the chip leader going into the final table of the 2016 Main Event. Pocketfives.com has ranked him number one at various times with his online poker winnings. He’s made several poker training videos and he’s won two bracelets at other WSOP events. Previously, he’s also been in the money at the WSOP 17 times. This is his largest cash to date with the guaranteed million dollar payday for the final table plus whatever else he earns through his finish. His chip stack is 74,600,000.Qui Nguyen has some WSOP experience with one previous cash for less than $10,000. He entered three tourneys this WSOP and cashed just this one time. But he is an experienced WSOP player with history so you can’t count him out. His chip stack is 67,925,000.Gordon Vayo is ranked third in chip stack. At 27, he’s had an impressive 26 WSOP cashes worth over $600,000. This year, he cashed in eight events. He’s one to watch not only now but in the future as well. One of his previous largest cashes was in 2014 in the NHL 6 handed event for $314,535. His chip stack is 49,375,000.Kenny Hallaert is a poker pro from Belgium. He has an impressive background with 22 WSOP cashes and nearly $400,000 in winnings. At the first Colossus tournament, he won $182,348. His largest cash, however, was $210,962 in 2011. His chip stack is 43,325,000.Michael Ruane is the Jersey Boy Made to the Final Table. He is a poker pro but this is his largest cash to date. He’s only had three previous cashes for total of $24,438. His live poker cashes are less than $50,000. But as we all know in poker. Every year brings a new winner. It’s all in the cards. His chip stack is 31,600,000.Vojtech Ruzicka is the first Czech to make the final table since 2011. Ruzicka has 17 previous WSOP cashes and won over $1.1 million on the live poker circuit. He cashed in 18 tourneys at this years’ WSOP. He also won the 2013 EPT Deuville High Roller event for $426,907. The million dollar guarantee will be his largest cash to date. His chip stack is 27,300,000.Griffin Benger is a 31 year old Canadian player with over $2 million in career cashes including $1 million in the Shark Tank session in London. He’s had 13 previous WSOP cashes. This was the only event he entered at this year’s WSOP. The one million dollar guarantee will make this one of his largest cashes. His chip stack is 26,175,000.Jerry Wong is the 2nd New Yorker to make the final table. He had the lead at some point through the Main Event. He’s ranked eighth in chip stack. He is a poker pro with over 1.3 million in live poker earnings. He’s had 19 previous WSOP cashes. His chip stack is 10,175,000.Fernando Pons is ranked last in chips. He comes from Spain. This is by far his largest cash ever. His live poker event totals are just over $10,000. He’s the first Spanish man to make the final table since 2014. In 2001 Carlos Mortensen won the Main Event for $1.5 million. Look at the difference in the dollars from then to now. It’s amazing!! His chip stack is 6,150,000.
This is a wrap of the WSOP November Nine. See you in October at the conclusion of the 2016 WSOP Main Event.

The final event of the summer WSOP series has finished. Michael Tureniec wins the Little One for One Drop Poker Tournament. The 31 year old professional poker player top a field of 4,360 entries. The total prize pool was $3,924,000. For the win, Tureniec collects $525,520. Previously, he’s had 9 other WSOP cashes, but this is his first bracelet and final table.
He rallied from a low chip stack to power over his fellow players and take first place.
The One Drop For Water Poker tournaments are the events one percent of all players’ winnings go to establishing water in areas where water isn’t common. Rural areas of third world countries are the beneficiaries of One Drop major support.
The top finishers in the Little One for One Drop poker tournament were:Michael Tureniec $525,520Calvin Anderson $324,597Ryan D’Angelo $177,695Thai Tolly $133,028Lucas Blanco $100,380Samer Al-Shurieki $76,351Shai Zurr $58,543Guillame Diaz $45,254
As said before, this was the last of tournaments of the first part of the WSOP. The 2016 WSOP Main Event starts in October!!Highlights of the WSOP 2016WSOP Player of the Year
Players of the Year goes to the top point earners. This year Jason Mercier topped the chart with the most points. Jason Mercier cashed alot. He had a total of 11 cashes ranging from $2000 to over $400,000. He got a total of five bracelets at this event!
Paul Volpe ranks second. His cashes ranged from $5000 to over $200,000. Ryan Laplante hit the jackpot with twelve cashes It was a record amount of cashes, though most were less than $10,000. One of his cashes was for nearly $200,000. He brought a moment of pride to the tournament declaring he’s gay and showing off his leading man.
The top players of the tournament were:Jason MercierPaul VolpeMax SilverJames ObstJohn MonnetteMartin KozlovJustin BonomoMichael GathyDavid VamplewBenny GlaserWSOP 2016 Breaks Attendance Records
The 2016 WSOP broke all previous attendance records. Overall attendace was up 5% with many tournaments breaking previous records. It seems more people are playing poker than ever! More players means it is harder to cash as well. So, all players who cashed should really congratulate themselves. There was $221 million in prize money on the table.